Many said that it was because they weren’t able to tell the difference between a “fearful daydream” and a premonition.

The confusion was mentioned several times, so here are some pointers on telling the difference between the two.

Premonitions are when we know something is going to happen for no apparent, or conscious reason. We have no knowledge that was given to us about this event – we just know that we know.

In a premonition the information is not something we’ve consciously been dwelling on, as in the case of a fear that your teenage child will get into an accident – that’s a fear we’re aware of.

A premonition APPEARS in the mind – whole and complete. Again, it’s not something you were thinking about. It’s an awareness of an event that was PLACED in the mind – but NOT by you.

In the case of a daydream you already have a fear that something may happen. This fear plays over and over again in your mind making you think it may just be a premonition. After a while you convince yourself it’s true.

In the example I mentioned about the fear your teenage child might get into an accident; if it were a true premonition the finality and the knowing that comes with a premonition would strike suddenly, and you’d just KNOW that this accident had occurred. You wouldn’t have to convince yourself it was true.

It can also feel like a gnawing in the stomach, or butterflies, or a nervousness regarding the issue that doesn’t subside until the event occurs. In this case, your body knows it’s true and reacts. This is hard to duplicate with a fearful daydream. You might feel very upset but it wouldn’t manifest with the same physical symptoms.

In a fearful daydream your not so sure ’cause it’s a thought you created with the rational mind – which is a sign that it’s not a premonition. With premonitions YOU KNOW and it arises spontaneously without any influence from the rational mind.

I had this dream 3 months before my father died and while he was perfectly healthy. There was no reason to suspect he’d die so soon. After I awoke I “knew” I was going to lose my father. My first thought was – this is the year I’m going to lose my father. I didn’t want it to be true, but I knew no matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise (and I did) or how healthy he was at the time of the dream that it was going to happen that year.

Around the time of 9/ll many people had premonitions about something happening. Many were premonitions like mine (I describe this in my previous post) that were non-specific. The common thing about all premonitions is that they come out of the blue. I wasn’t thinking about plane crashes when I began hearing plane crash sounds in my head.

The next time you work yourself up into a tizzy and worry that you’re not sure if you’ve had a premonition or fearful daydream try this:

1. Go sit somewhere quiet where you can relax. Close your eyes and take in some very deep breaths – make sure your stomach balloons out. Hold for a second or two then release. Do this until you feel calmer.

2. See in your mind’s eye a screen – like a movie screen at the theater. It’s white and rectangular and blank.

3. Tell yourself you’re going to ask a yes or no question and you want to see a traffic light on your screen. If the answer is yes the light will be green. If the answer is no the light will be red.

4. Now relax again, breathe some more. Be comfortable and when you’re ready ask yourself: Am I having a premonition of something that’s going to happen?

5. Focus on seeing the traffic light. It may come very very fast. Or you may just see a green or red color. Be aware it may come as a voice too. You may hear “yes” or feel “no.” It can very subtle so be on high alert.

What did you see? Was it a red light or a green light? If it was a red light allow yourself to relax knowing that you don’t have to be scared any longer. It was just your fears creating a scenario that isn’t going to happen.

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21 Responses to “Intuition: You Don’t Have to Scare The **** Out of Yourself!”

Up until now, I had actually never thought about the difference between a premonition or a fearful daydream. I can see where it could lead to a lot of worry if a person thought that every fearful daydream were actually a premonition.

One part that really stood out was when you said “YOU KNOW” regarding premonitions. I know what you mean when you say this.

Interesting! Premonitions fascinate me because some people have such strong ones that there really is no denying them. I imagine it can be frightening if a person hasn’t had them before. If I ever have one I’m getting in touch with you

Hi Jean, I agree Premonitions are fascinating. There’ve been many famous ones in history, such as President Lincoln’s dream about his own death. Now, that would be frightening! I’m an intuitive consultant – so please do feel free anytime to ask me about a premonition you had, or anything else that relates to intuition, or interpreting dreams, etc.

Hi Greg, You’re welcome! I’m glad this article sorted out the difference between a premonition and a fearful daydream. Part of the problem is that many people have conditioned themselves to worry. They’ve made these thought patterns a habit that have created deep deep neural pathways in their brains. I wrote a post titled, Retrain Your Brain: 7 Days to A New Positive You, and what it was about was that worry is a habit that we can change. So many people expend so much energy on worry – when it actually has no positive effect on the situation you’re worried about. So anytime I can be of help to anyone who’s mired in the worrying trap – I’m happy to do it.

Thank you for this article Angela! That really helps clarify the difference. I especially love the Red Light & Green Light; I have not tried that before. I’m going to chat with my Mom & Sister and be sure they read this since we have talked about this very question many times.

Hi Angela,
That is a great distinction you make. The mind is like Zen philosophy teaches – like an agitated monkey, stung by a scorpion and drunk on alcohol. If we are not aware the mind goes wild! I suppose that premonitions then must come from calm and awareness… that KNOWING you speak of. Quite the opposite of a fearful daydream. Great discussion.

Hi Aileen, you’re so welcome. I wrote it specifically to address your question. Glad you found it helpful. Yes, please use the Traffic Light for all kinds of yes and no questions – it really works – let me know how it goes too. I look forward to “meeting” your sister & Mom here as well. Thank you for your comments.

This was great, Angela. I love the way you explained so clearly the differences between premonitions and fearful daydreams. I have often wondered about this myself and, now that I’ve read your words, can see where past premonitions and fearful daydreams in my own life do, in fact, confirm what you are saying. Thank you for this: this was fantastic!

Hi Rob, I’m glad you found the distinction between the fearful daydream and premonition clear. Yes, you’re so right about the mind being like a chattering monkey! The KNOWING comes from outside of us – perhaps what some call Universal Mind. If we’re stressed out and the brain is chattering away like a drunken monkey this insight will never get through to us. Calm awareness is the key. We need to learn to “be in the world but not of it.” Thanks so much for visiting and for your comments Rob.

Hi Manal,
So nice to “see” you here! I’m glad you enjoyed the post and found it clarified the difference between our imagined fears and a true premonition. You’re right – we need to be aware of what we’re thinking – ALL THE TIME as we’re creating whatever we focus upon.

I love the traffic light method. It’s so simple and a very direct communication path to one’s intuition.

Interesting. My Great Grandmother, whom I saw as a little girl saw her own passing. She was not sick or had any problem and she told all of us (I was too young to know but my mom recalls it), that she will die between 8-11 pm on particular day, everyone did not believe her, but she did pass on that day, when she said it. I am still amazed as how could she see her own future!

Other times, when we are concerned about our loved ones, we tend to expect the worse, that is not a premonition, I simply think it is because we are closer to person, the worse case scanario it becomes.

Hi Zengirl, It’s so lovely to see you here. Wow, what an incredible story about your grandmother. She must have had a premonition to have known that for sure. Many times before we go – the ones who’ve crossed over before us will pay us a visit and try to prepare us for this huge change. I wonder if your grandfather came to her in a vision, or dream and told her? She never said how she knew? I’d be very curious to know how she knew. Do you think your mother might have any idea?

Yes, I completely agree with you – when we’re really close to people we tend to worry more about their safety – which may start to feel as real as a premonition.

Sorry I missed another post. I look forward to them. Here I am after the fact, again. But never too late.
I do understand. I have had premonitions. But sometimes I know about something but don’t know how I know. For example,I received a call form a client telling me her boss had died. I said, “yes, I know. I heard, I’m so sorry.” She asked me how I knew and who told me. I told her I couldn’t recall but I’d heard from someone earlier in the week or read it somewhere. She said “But he just died yesterday.”
I knew but I guess that’s not exactly a premonition, is it?

I would agree that what happened with knowing the client’s boss had died wasn’t a premonition. It sounds like a presentience though. That’s when we sense something before it’s happened. It’s very subtle and many times we’re not conscious of it until the event unfolds. It’s different from a premonition because often with them there’s a sense of foreboding and we’re very aware that something’s happened.

My mouth is agape as I read this as I, too, had a dream prior to my Dad’s death. But it wasn’t a just a “dream”, it was a premonition and as real as real gets.

I was in Costa Rica with my Dad. He was ill and I had returned for the second time. The first night back I had a “dream” for lack of a better word.

In the dream I was with him on his porch and lying holding him on his bed (that in the dream was on the porch). I was sobbing and said “I don’t want to lose you”. My Dad replied “I’m not going anywhere”. I knew in that moment that my Dad was going to die.

I awakened with the knowing. Although it was incredibly painful to lose my Dad, the dream provided some comfort to me as he told me he wasn’t going anywhere.

Still, I miss his presence in the physical as I’m sure you must.

I’m going to read about your dream that was the premonition about your Dad.

Hi Lauren, Welcome! I so appreciate your visiting. I subscribed to your blog after hearing about it from Greg and look forward to your next post.

From reading your comment I can tell you that you definitely had a precognitive dream – which is a glimpse of the future. You were being told that your father’s physical death was imminent, but that his spirit would remain close to you.

I do miss my father’s presence very much, but I’m lucky in that I “see him & hear him” from time to time. He is very happy to be out of his ailing body and now spends his time checking up on all of us – and fishing and visiting all the historic places around the world he never got to see.